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Menstrual and reproductive characteristics and breast density in young women

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Abstract

Purpose

Breast density is strongly related to breast cancer risk, but determinants of breast density in young women remain largely unknown.

Methods

Associations of reproductive and menstrual characteristics with breast density measured by magnetic resonance imaging were evaluated in a cross-sectional study of 176 healthy women, 25–29 years old, using linear mixed effects models.

Results

Parity was significantly inversely associated with breast density. In multivariable adjusted models that included non-reproductive variables, mean percent dense breast volume (%DBV) decreased from 20.5 % in nulliparous women to 16.0 % in parous women, while mean absolute dense breast volume (ADBV) decreased from 85.3 to 62.5 cm3. Breast density also was significantly inversely associated with the age women started using hormonal contraceptives, whereas it was significantly positively associated with duration of hormonal contraceptive use. In adjusted models, mean %DBV decreased from 21.7 % in women who started using hormones at 12–17 years of age to 14.7 % in those who started using hormones at 22–28 years of age, while mean ADBV decreased from 86.2 to 53.7 cm3. The age at which women started using hormonal contraceptives and duration of hormone use were inversely correlated, and mean %DBV increased from 15.8 % in women who used hormones for not more than 2.0 years to 22.0 % in women who used hormones for more than 8 years, while mean ADBV increased from 61.9 to 90.4 cm3 over this interval.

Conclusions

Breast density in young women is inversely associated with parity and the age women started using hormonal contraceptives but positively associated with duration of hormone use.

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Notes

  1. Children’s Hospital, New Orleans, LA; Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland, OR; University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, Iowa City, IA; Maryland Medical Research Institute, Baltimore, MD.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank all of the DISC06 participants. They thank the National Cancer Institute (R01CA104670 to JFD and R01CA116182 to NMH) for funding.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland School of Medicine, 660 W. Redwood St., Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    Joanne F. Dorgan

  2. Dangeard Group, 580 W. Remington Drive, Sunnyvale, CA, 94087, USA

    Catherine Klifa

  3. Fox Chase Cancer Center, 333 Cottman Ave., Philadelphia, PA, 19111, USA

    Snehal Deshmukh & Brian L. Egleston

  4. University of California, San Francisco, 1600 Divisadero St., San Francisco, CA, 94115, USA

    John A. Shepherd & Nola M. Hylton

  5. Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA

    Peter O. Kwiterovich Jr.

  6. Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 680 N. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Linda Van Horn

  7. University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Dr., Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA

    Linda G. Snetselaar

  8. Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, 3800 N. Interstate Ave., Portland, OR, 97227, USA

    Victor J. Stevens

  9. Children’s Hospital, 200 Henry Clay Ave., New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA

    Alan M. Robson

  10. New Jersey Medical School, 65 Bergen St., Newark, NJ, 07107, USA

    Norman L. Lasser

Authors
  1. Joanne F. Dorgan
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  2. Catherine Klifa
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  3. Snehal Deshmukh
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  4. Brian L. Egleston
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  5. John A. Shepherd
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  6. Peter O. Kwiterovich Jr.
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  7. Linda Van Horn
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  8. Linda G. Snetselaar
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  9. Victor J. Stevens
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  10. Alan M. Robson
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  11. Norman L. Lasser
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  12. Nola M. Hylton
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joanne F. Dorgan.

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Dorgan, J.F., Klifa, C., Deshmukh, S. et al. Menstrual and reproductive characteristics and breast density in young women. Cancer Causes Control 24, 1973–1983 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-013-0273-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-013-0273-2

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